Laptop Retailers

We compare prices from 92 laptop retailers every day to bring you the best deals. We compare high street and online prices to make sure you save money on your favourite laptop. We search for bargains from the United Kingdom's largest retailers such as Amazon and ebay as well as smaller shops in our mission to show you the best offers available today.

Operating Systems Explained

Microsoft Windows

Windows 10 is the latest version of Microsoft's operating system. Windows 10 has been designed for touch allowing you use intuitive touch gestures directly on the screen. This is great for the latest generation of 2-in-1 or convertible which allow you to detach or hide the keyboard and use the as a tablet. Windows 10 retains the familiar Start menu so it's easy to find your documents and programs, and Windows has by far the largest range of compatible software. Similarly if you are looking for games then Windows is the obvious choice, with by far the largest number of supported games. Windows based tend to be cheaper than Mac OS X .

Designed for touch

Cortana voice control

Huge selection of software

Most games supported

Backwards compatible

Have to pay for software such as word processor, spreadsheet etc.

Poorer integration between hardware and software

Max OS X

El Capitan is the latest version of the Mac OS X operating system from Apple. Mac OS X have the advantage that both the hardware and software are designed by Apple, so they integrated smoothly and work seamlessly with other Apple products like the iPhone or iPad. Mac OS X comes with lots of software included for free such as apps for word processing, spreadsheet, photos and music. You can install Microsoft Office if you want the familiar Word, Excel, Powerpoint apps. Apple really excel at creative work such as photo editing, video editing and music. One of the biggest downsides of Apple is that they tend to be very expensive.

Intuitive and easy to use

Lots of great software included for free

Strong integration between hardware and software

Seamless integration with iPhone and iPad

Fewer viruses and lower maintenance

Expensive

Some software does not work on Mac

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a lightweight operating system primarily designed to give you access to web based apps. This means that documents are edited using Google's web based applications, meaning that very little is stored on the computer itself. Over 675,000 apps and games are available through Google Play. Web based apps means that the computer doesn't tend to slow down over time and you are also less likely to get a virus. Minimal hardware also means Chromebooks have good battery lifes and they tend to be very cheap. The main downside with a Chromebook is that to make best use of them you need a reliable internet connection.

Cheap

Simple web based interface

Huge selection of apps and games from Google Play

Low power consumption - good battery life

Lower risk of viruses

Need a good internet connection

Not suitable for power users

Choosing the Right Screen Size

Compact

10 to 12 inches

The smallest have a screen size of around 10 inches, and go up to around 12 inches. These ultra compact are great if you need something lightweight and portable that you are going to be frequently carrying around with you. The small screen size means that they will tend to have smaller keyboards, making it harder to type. They also tend to be less powerful.

Lightweight and portable

Small keyboard makes it harder to type

Not very powerful

Standard

13 to 15 inches

Most have screen sizes of approximately 13 to 15 inches. This size provides a good compromise of weight and functionality. They will tend to have a full size keyboard making it easy to type, and the screen is big enough for most people's needs. If you need a bigger screen then many let you connect a second monitor, which could be much bigger than the screen.

Good compromise of size, weight and power

Full size keyboard

Large

16 to 18 inches

The biggest have huge 18 inch screens. Many of these are designed specifically for gaming and their big size means they can pack in lots of powerful processors and graphics cards. Obviously the main downside is that they tend to be very heavy and bulky making them harder to transport.

Great for gaming

Space for powerful hardware

Bulky and heavy

Power hungry

Touch Screen

Some of the latest have touch sensitive screens. This allows you to use the intuitive touch gestures that you are used to on a tablet and phone, directly on the 's screen. Touch is best experienced on Windows 10 which has been designed specifically for touch. Apple do not currently support touch. Touch is most useful on convertible 2-in-1 which allow you to remove or hide the keyboard and use the like a tablet. Touching the screen all the time can make the greasy and means you will need to clean it more often.

Use intuitive touch commands
Works well with Windows 10
Most useful on convertible

Not available on Macbooks
Screen gets greasy

Processors Explained

The type of processor will have the biggest influence on the 's running speed and are a good indicator of the 's overall performance. The speed will be affected by the model of the processor, it's operating frequency (normally in MHz) and the number of cores.

The two biggest manufacturers of processor chips are Intel and AMD and the vast majority of new are fitted with a processor manufactured by one of these brands. Each processor model has many different versions, with different numbers of cores or different operating frequencies. Whilst the number of cores and operating frequency will affect the 's speed, the chart below gives the approximate speed for each processor type.

Many of the cheaper are fitted with low end processors such as Intel Celeron or Intel Atom. These are fine for basic web browsing and email, and have the advantage of low per consumption meaning that the battery will last longer. However these processors may struggle with complex photo editing or very large documents.

The most popular mid-range are fitted with Intel Core M or Core i3 processors. These processors are fine most users and will comfortably handle all day to day computing including web browsing, organising photos and watching films.

Top end such as ultrabooks or gaming often come with Intel Core i5 or i7 processors. These processors are great for fast gaming or for heavy media work such as video editing, however they are power hungry and will diminish the battery quickly when doing intensive work.

Intel's next generation of Xeon processor chips are coming soon to the next generation of . These ultra powerful processors are designed for high end processor intensive activities such as 3d modeling and data mining.

RAM (Internal Memory)

RAM is the computer's memory. It is used to load programs and apps in to when you run them. Bigger amounts of RAM will make the computer run faster as there will be less pausing whilst the loads additional data. RAM is measured in gigabytes (GB) and is sometimes referred to as the internal memory of the computer. The absolute minimum RAM on a these days is 2GB which is OK for basic computing like browsing the web, editing documents, emails and photos, but for anything more demanding like handling or editing high resolution photos then you should be looking for an absolute minimum of 4GB of RAM or ideally 6GB or more.

Hard Drive / Solid State Drive

There are two main types of storage found on which are either a hard drive or a solid state drive. These are used to provide long term storage for all your applications, documents, photos and music.

Hard drives are the traditional form of storage and have been provided on for decades. A hard drive uses magnetic discs to store your data. The advantage of hard drives is that they have huge capacities and are relatively cheap. The downside is that they are a bit slower than solid state drives. Hard drives use moving parts to read and write the magnetic discs and it is possible, although unusual, for this mechanism to become broken or for the disc to become corrupted.

Huge capacity
Cheaper
Risk of drive failure or corruption
Slower

Solid State Drives use computer chips to store your data. It is sometimes referred to as flash storage. This means that they have no moving parts, which makes them much faster and more reliable than hard drives. They also have lower power consumption than hard drives meaning that your battery will last longer. Solid state drives are expensive and so they only tend to be found on premium models. Also solid state drives are generally only available in smaller sizes, so storage space will be limited.

Battery Life

One of the great advantages of a is the freedom to work anywhere, even without a power supply. Checking the battery life is an important part of choosing the right . Comparing anticipated battery running hours is difficult as different manufacturer's use different assumptions in calculating their published figures. The battery life will depend heavily on what you are using the for and the brightness of the screen. Manufacturer's estimated battery hours range anywhere from 3 hours to 24 hours. A battery life of over 6 hours should be considered pretty good.

Screen Resolution / Graphics Card

It's important to look at the maximum screen resolution of a before deciding which one to buy. The higher the resolution the more information you will be able to fit on the screen at one time, which can make is easier to work on big documents. Higher resolution screens will make photos and videos appear sharper. To watch videos in Full HD look for screens with a resolution of at least 1920 x 1080 pixels. Some new have a built in HDMI port which lets you connect your directly to a TV which you can then use as a second monitor or as a mirror for what is on the 's screen.

graphics cards are the processing unit for generating everything that you see on the 's screen. For day to day computing they are not an important concern, but if you are doing high end media work, photo/video editing, 3d modeling, or gaming then a powerful graphics card will make sure everything moves quickly and smoothly on the screen and will ensure a fast frame rate for gaming. Graphics cards are generally either integrated or dedicated (sometimes called discrete).

Integrated graphics cards utilise the main RAM of the computer in order to process the graphics. This has the advantage of being cheaper to manufacturer, but because the RAM is being shared between the processor and the graphics card they are slower than dedicated graphics cards.

Dedicated graphics cards have their own RAM which enables them to process graphics more quickly and leaves all of the main RAM free for the processor to use. You should definitely look for a dedicated graphics card if you are looking for a gaming . The downside of a dedicated graphics card, particularly a powerful one, is that it will drain the 's battery quickly.

Optical / DVD Drives

Many new do not have an optical drive. This is because most software is downloaded online these days and similarly most music and films are downloaded. The main advantage of an optical drive is to allow you access existing software, documents, music and films that you have on CD / DVD. An optical drive is also useful for making a backup of your data, although these days there are many online backup services that allow you to backup your documents over the internet. The advantage to manufacturers of removing the optical drive is that it allows designs to be thinner, lighter and less power hungry. If you really want an optical drive it is always possible to buy and external CD / DVD drive which you can connect to your with a USB cable.